Visiting British, French leaders back Libya rulers

Sept. 16, 2011 12:00 AMAssociated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya - British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered broad support for Libya's new rulers Thursday, promising to unfreeze billions in assets and give help in finding Moammar Gadhafi, even as revolutionary forces attempted their first significant assault on Gadhafi's hometown.

The Western leaders, the first to visit since Tripoli fell late last month, got a welcome worthy of rock stars from jubilant Libyans grateful for NATO airstrikes that helped turn the tide of the war in their favor.

Staff at a hospital in Tripoli applauded the two men as they visited patients who had been wounded in the fighting, and schoolchildren in the eastern city of Benghazi wore T-shirts that said "Generations will never forget the favors and support from Great Britain" and "Sarkozy: Benghazi loves you."

But tight security in both cities was a reminder that Gadhafi was still on the run and his supporters were holding out in three major strongholds, including his hometown of Sirte.

Gadhafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, chided the foreign leaders for their short trip, claiming that pro-Gadhafi fighters "are everywhere." He told the Syrian al-Rai TV station late Thursday, "This visit by Sarkozy and Cameron is a launch of an imperialist project in Libya." Ibrahim did not say where he was, nor where Gadhafi was hiding.

In a surprise advance, revolutionary forces entered the outskirts of Sirte, 250 miles southeast of Tripoli along the Mediterranean coast, on Thursday and were facing rocket fire, according to a member of the military council from the nearby city of Misrata.

Ali Gliwan said fighters crossing a major highway overpass at the southwestern entrance of the city were met by rocket fire from Gadhafi loyalists. Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for Libya's new leaders, said several thousand fighters were involved.